Clik here to view.
The Evanston Township High School chess team more than lived up to expectations at Saturday’s North Suburban Chess League Conference Tournament at Niles West High School in Skokie. The Wildkits began the day as the tournament favorite and were never threatened on their way to a first-place finish.
Evanston shut out Niles West and Niles North in their first two matches, and barely slowed down when they faced the other top contenders in the next two rounds. They defeated Glenbrook South 47-21 in round three and scored a 60-8 win over Glenbrook North in the fourth and final round to finish as the only undefeated team.
Evanston used nine players in this eight-board tournament, and all nine performed well. The team’s results on Boards 2 through 4 were especially strong; Somil Bose won his four games on Board 2, Asa Lieberman had three wins and a draw on Board 3, and Alastair Keely-Walker had four wins on Board 4. In addition, the rotation of Sam Kemeny, Will Zalmezak, Griffin Lewis and Micah Mostovoy combined for a 12-0 record on Boards 6, 7 and 8.
B-team also scores in tourney
Evanston was also allowed to enter a B team in the varsity section of the tournament, and they earned a fourth-place finish by winning three of their four matches, defeating Mundelein, Niles West and Niles North. Their only loss was to Glenbrook North in a close 37-31 contest. The top three Varsity B team players, Aiden Wang, Max Tornheim and Ryan Cowan, all showed varsity level skills by finishing with winning records. In addition, Josh Beatty had three wins in four games on Board 5, Lucia Scrimenti had three wins and a draw on Board 6 and Wayra Sheridan won all four of her games on Board 7.
The next challenge for the Wildkits is the Illinois High School Association Chess State Series, which begins this Saturday with sectional competition and concludes with the state final in mid-February.
“We’re feeling optimistic about our chances at State,” said Manu Zerega, an ETHS senior who usually plays on one of the middle boards. ETHS is hosting one of the sectional tournaments, and team members are hoping that the advantage of playing at home helps them to another successful tournament and one of the top team seeds at the state final.
ETHS chess team wins conference title is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
